Logan Mayor calls on Coalition to match M1 funding

City of Logan Mayor, Cr Luke Smith, has called on the Prime Minister to match Labor’s 80/20 funding commitment for the M1 upgrade.

Mr Turnbull has promised an upgrade of the much maligned M1, between the Gateway merge and Logan Motorway, however it is conditional on the State Government contributing 50 percent of the funds.

Mayor Luke Smith said he is bitterly disappointed the urgent M1 upgrades are once again being caught up in political games.

“The Coalition’s commitment amounts to a hollow promise. They know the State Government has not budgeted for the extra 30 percent, so yet again, the City of Logan and South-East Queensland will miss out,” said Mayor Smith.

“The M1 has been used as a political point-scoring tool for more than a decade, and the residents and businesses of Logan, Brisbane and the Gold Coast have had enough.”

Mayor Luke Smith said the shortfall in funding will mean work on this important project likely won’t start in January 2017 as initially hoped.

“I am calling on the Prime Minister to reconsider his offer so work on this vital transport route can start in time to relieve gridlock before the Commonwealth Games in 2018,” he said.

“We cannot afford the embarrassment of having thousands of athletes and visitors trapped on the M1 carpark as they try to move around venues and attractions across South-East Queensland.”

Over the past month, Mayor Smith has led a community campaign with the call to Get Logan Moving. The primary objective is to gain funding commitments on critical infrastructure projects before the federal election on 2 July.

“We have been campaigning for these improvements for years, but the federal election has really brought this issue to a head,” he said.

“As a Council and a community, we are determined to get the message through to our politicians that this economy stifling gridlock needs to be urgently addressed.

“We need certainty that this project will go ahead, and right now it needs an 80/20 funding split to get things moving once and for all.

“The time for politics is over – it’s time to get moving on fixing the M1.”

In April, the ALP committed $168 million to fund a 4.5km stretch on the southbound side between Eight Mile Plains and the Springwood-Rochedale Rd exit which includes a $42 million contribution from the State Government under an 80:20 funding split.